Earlier this month, many residents in Tangipahoa Parish flooded for a second, third, even a fourth time. Parish President Robby Miller said federal dollars to raise homes will likely become available, but the grant process takes time.

Miller urges residents considering home elevation to go ahead and fill out a preliminary application as soon as possible.

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Frustrated with several flooding incidents, the Frederick family decided to go after a federal grant to raise their home in Hammond. That was more than 3 years ago.

"It's a grant process and paperwork but it's worth it," said Rhonda Frederick.

They even paid extra to raise their home a full four feet. The decision paid off.

"It looks like it worked. It was close, but the water did not get into my house, so that's all that matters," said Frederick.

"We're looking to get a good list of people who are repetitive flood victims, so we can have a good list of folks and applicants available when the parish gets their hazardous mitigation dollars for this event," says Andy Currier of the Tangipahoa Parish Building Office.

Parish officials want residents to fill out the preliminary application, so that those who ultimately do qualify can get started as soon as possible.

"It's a proactive approach to get ahead of the game a little bit to try and speed up the process when the funds do start coming in," says the parish president.

"We got about 26 inches in Isaac (2012)," says Rhonda Frederick, "and so we applied for every grant out there and got a grant to raise our house, so we're very pleased."

Had they not started the process when they did, the Frederick home would have likely flooded again when the storms came a couple of weeks ago.

Most flood mitigation grants are a shared expense, generally about 75 percent of the cost is paid with federal FEMA dollars awarded to local parishes like Tangipahoa. The homeowner supplies the balance.

At this point, the process is only an application to begin a effort that might take years.

"It's pretty common, and actually the Hurricane Isaac money is just now being received for us to start raising those homes," says Miller.

Adds Currier, "It's not a definite thing. You can sign up and if you find out it doesn't fit in your budget or it's not cost effective for your budget, you can back out at no expense, but the only thing is if you are not on the list, you never know."

So the idea is to wade in now, gather necessary information, and fill out a preliminary application.

If you have any questions, you can contact the Tangipahoa Parish Permit Office. 985-542-2117, or log onto tangipahoa.org.

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